SOLA FIDE (FAITH ALONE), PT. 4; PHIL. 3:8-11 (Ed O Leary) TODAY, ~ DRAW STUDY OF PHIL. 3:1-11 TO A CLOSE. ~~ EXAMINE LAST 4 VV., ~ 8-11.

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1 SOLA FIDE (FAITH ALONE), PT. 4; PHIL. 3:8-11 (Ed O Leary) INTRODUCTION. TODAY, ~ DRAW STUDY OF PHIL. 3:1-11 TO A CLOSE. ~~ EXAMINE LAST 4 VV., ~ IN VERSE 8a, ~ PAUL EXPANDS ON THE THINGS LISTED ON HIS RÉSUMÉ, ~ listed in verses 5-6, ~ to include anything that suggests we could be the source of our salvation. IOW, ~ COVERS ALL THE BASES. Perhaps he does so to counter any thinking that says that something not listed could make us the source of our salvation. He closes the door on anything and everything that would suggest or even hint that any human-based attempts at gaining salvation will work. Indeed, I count everything as loss. ~~ I.e., ~ Paul considered all human-based attempts to be worthless and a liability. Then he says why he considers them worthless and a liability. ~~ because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. The idea here in verse 8a is this: ~~ Paul: ~ all human-based attempts at gaining salvation are worthless and a liability; ~~ because of what is so much more valuable and has the supreme advantage for gaining salvation. ~~ And what is so much more valuable and has the supreme advantage over all human based attempts at gaining salvation is knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Context, ~ knowing Christ Jesus my Lord refers to saving knowledge, ~ or saving faith. Wider context of NT, ~ knowing Jesus synonymous with salvation. All human-based attempts at gaining salvation are worthless and a liability because knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord is much more valuable ~ and has the supreme advantage over them. Why is this the case? ~~ Because saving faith in Jesus alone is the only thing that works. He alone can ~ and has ~ bridged the gap between God and human beings. ~~ One mediator between God and us, ~ Jesus. 1/7

2 Remember that after his conversion Paul came to the settled conviction that the things listed on his impressive résumé were worthless, ~ because they could do nothing for him when it came to being made right with God. And he came to the settled conviction that they were a liability, ~ because, ~ rather than bringing him close to God, ~ they had actually kept him separated from God. ~~ They could not bridge the gap that exists between God and us. So, ~ saving faith in Jesus is supremely more valuable and has the supreme advantage over all human-based attempts at gaining salvation, ~ because it is the only way to eternal life. They, ~ i.e., ~ all human attempts at gaining salvation, ~ they don t work. Only faith alone ~ in Jesus alone ~ will open the doors of heaven to us and give us a relationship with God. IN VERSE 8b, ~ PAUL REINFORCES THE TRUTH THAT ALL HUMAN-BASED ATTEMPTS at gaining salvation are worthless and a liability. HE DISCARDED ~ [WHAT HE S TALKING ABOUT, ~ I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS ] ~ HE discarded all human-based attempts at gaining salvation in order to gain Christ. The implication is that one cannot gain Christ, ~ i.e., ~ obtain salvation, ~ through any human-based means. E.g., ~ being baptized as an infant will not do it. ~~ Following religious rules and performing religious rituals won t cut it. Family connections, ~ good national roots, ~ or good religious roots cannot give a person access to heaven. No one is ever made right with God through religious status and faithfulness. ~~ Sincerity in one s religious convictions will not open the gates of heaven for them. To depend on following religious rules or good works for salvation is fatal. As we noted before, ~ and as Paul says here in verse 8b, ~ all that these things qualify for is the garbage dump. All human-based attempts at gaining salvation must be abandoned because they will do a person no good when it comes to receiving eternal life, ~ and keep them separated from God. Only way to gain Christ [obtain salvation] is through faith alone in Jesus alone. 2/7

3 IN VERSES 9-11, ~ PAUL LISTS SOME OF THE POSITIVE RESULTS OF knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord. ~~ Or could say, ~ Lists some the of positive results of our salvation. IN VERSE 9, ~ PAUL SAYS THAT, ~ AS A RESULT, ~ WE CLOTHED IN THE righteousness of Christ, ~ the only righteousness that can enable us to be right with God. Anyone who believes that they can enter into a relationship with God based on their own good works or righteousness is only fooling themselves. My friends, ~ no matter how much good we do, ~ no matter how good we try to be, ~ we have absolutely no righteousness in ourselves to enable us to be right with God. Is. 64:6a says, ~ NIV, ~ All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Recall Isaiah in chap. 6 ~~ Saw the Lord.... ~~ Holy.... ~~ Reaction: ~~ Woe is me! For I am lost.... ~~ Realized sinfulness when confronted with.... We need to realize and remember ~ that the standard of righteousness for receiving eternal life is not human righteousness. ~~ Not mine, ~ not yours, ~ not some other human. The standard for receiving eternal life is God s righteousness. ~~ That s what Isaiah probably realized. ~~ Compared to other humans, ~ we might seem pretty good. Compared to God? ~~ Not so much. ~~ All.... ~~ None righteous.... We need to be given, ~ since we don t have it & can t achieve it on our own, ~ we need to be given the righteousness that meets God s standard. I.e., ~ the righteousness that will enable us to have a relationship with God and to fellowship with him. And this we are given when we are found in Christ. ~~ I.e., ~ when we come to saving faith in Jesus, ~ we are given the proper righteousness, ~ that gives us access to heaven. And that is, ~ as Paul puts it in verse 9, ~ the righteousness from God that depends on faith, ~ which is the very righteousness of Christ. When we come to Jesus for salvation, ~ God the Father removes our filthy rags and then clothes us with the pure righteousness of his Son. ~~ The only.... ~~ **Zech. 3: CONTINUING WITH SOME OF THE POSITIVE RESULTS OF KNOWING JESUS AS Savior and Lord. ~~ In verse 10a, ~ Paul says that we come to know Jesus. 3/7

4 We come to know Jesus on a personal level, ~ not just knowledge about him. ~~ Not just historical insight or doctrinal knowledge. And this seems to be an ongoing and growing thing. ~~ At end of his 2nd epistle, ~ Peter exhorts believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we walk with the Lord, ~ study his word, ~ and fellowship with him through prayer, ~ we become more and more thoroughly acquainted with him. We will understand the remarkable wonders of his person more completely. ~~ We will come to love him more and more. And we will never cease to stand in awe of him and for what he s done for us. ANOTHER POSITIVE RESULT OF KNOWING JESUS AS SAVIOR AND LORD IS FOUND in verse 10b. ~~ I.e., ~ knowing the power of Christ s resurrection. Like coming to know Jesus on a personal level, ~ we also come to know the power of his resurrection on a personal level, ~ as it works in our lives. My... ~ God s infinite, ~ matchless power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us as we seek to live a life that is glorifying and pleasing to him. God s resurrection power of course will be manifested in our resurrection, ~ but Paul is telling us that it is also available to us now. All of us, ~ i.e., ~ believers, ~ are continually being tempted by the world, ~ the flesh, ~ and the devil to sin. The battle is on. ~~ And this battle needs to be fought. ~~ We must not surrender. But though the battle against sin is raging, ~ it will not be won through the exercising of our strength. Hopefully we have come to appreciate Christ s statement in John 15 that without Him we can do nothing. Loved ones, ~ is Jesus alive or dead? ~~ He s alive! ~~ And he, ~ the resurrected Lord, ~ wants to supply us with the power to win the battles that we face with sin. We are not to battle sin in our strength but in the strength of the living resurrected Christ, ~ and, ~ as Paul tells us in Ephesians, ~ clothed with the full armor of God. 4/7

5 Satan wants us to believe that we are weak, ~ which in fact we are. ~~ But he also wants us to believe that we are weak in Christ, ~ which in fact ~ we are not. ~~ A lie that we are. Because all those who have repented of their sins and turned to Christ alone for salvation have a supply of infinite, ~ matchless power. Notice, ~ we have a supply of infinite, ~ matchless power, ~ but it s up to us to draw upon it and put it to use. And the way we do that is to ask the Holy Spirit to empower us with it as we seek to live a life that is glorifying and pleasing to him. If we desire to live for and to glorify Jesus, ~ the Holy Spirit will fill us with this immeasurable power that will enable us to do so. ~~ He that is in us.... & we will overcome temptations from the world, ~ our sinful nature, ~ & the devil. ~~ We ll be, ~ to borrow from Paul, ~ more than conquerors through him who loved us. VERSE 10c LISTS ANOTHER POSITIVE RESULT OF KNOWING JESUS AS SAVIOR AND Lord. ~~ Suffering and death. Oh, ~ hold on now. ~~ Ok, ~ on the surface, ~ this might not seem like a positive result of our salvation. ~~ And we might hesitate to agree with Paul. ~~ But bear with me. When it comes to suffering, ~ we ve already discussed this back in 1:29. ~~ Recall that Paul said that we were given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ for salvation ~ but also the privilege of suffering for him. And we said that we could ask, ~ why or how is it a privilege to suffer for Jesus? ~~ Most likely it s a privilege, ~ we said, ~ because of the benefits suffering bestows on us. Well, ~ I would suggest that the same thing applies here in 3:10c. ~~ Suffering is a positive result for the same reasons, ~ the benefits it bestows on us. E.g., ~ problems and trials help us develop endurance. ~~ Endurance develops strength of character. ~~ And character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. That s the point Paul makes over in Rom. 5. And James says that we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. And he then calls on us to let steadfastness have its full effect, ~ that we may be perfect and complete, ~ lacking in nothing. 5/7

6 Seeing all of this, /~/ now we might not hesitate to agree wholeheartedly with Paul that suffering for Jesus is a positive result. ~~ Means of spiritual growth. As for death, ~ because of Jesus, /~~/ death is no longer a scary or horrible thing for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ~~ Not process.... Moment of death.... Because of Jesus, ~ the moment of a believer s death is no longer scary or a horrible thing. We all know from our previous discussions in Philippians that, ~ for all those who have confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord, ~ for us to die is gain and to depart and be with Christ is far better. For those outside of Christ, ~ moment of death is scary and will be horrible. ~~ But not so for those in Christ. ~~ Go immediately to be with Christ. ~~ Absent.... How could the moment of our death not be a positive result of our salvation? IN VERSE 11, ~ OUR FINAL VERSE, ~ PAUL SAYS THAT OUR RESURRECTION IS A further positive result of knowing Jesus as savior and Lord. The idea here is that one way or another Paul will experience the resurrection. ~~ But what does he mean by one way or another? ~~ Well, ~ let s put thinking caps on. Recall Paul s teaching in 1 Cor. and in 1 Thess. ~~ Now, ~ keep in mind that there will be a generation of believers that will be alive when Jesus returns. He says that (LEB) Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. And he says that when Jesus returns, ~ the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, ~ Paul, ~ I believe, ~ is saying this in Phil. 3:11: ~~ One way or another, ~ i.e., ~ whether I m part of the dead in Christ or of those who are still alive when Jesus returns, ~ I will experience the resurrection. Philippians no doubt aware of Paul s teaching on Christ s 2 nd coming and believers resurrection and would have understood that this is what Paul was talking about. 6/7

7 It s the same for us, ~~ my... ~~ whether we re part of the dead in Christ or of those who are still alive when Jesus returns, ~ we will all receive our resurrection bodies. In Jn. 6:40, ~ Jesus says, ~ NIV, ~ For my Father s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. I will ~~ Not maybe. ~~ Not, ~ I hope to. ~~ Not, ~ if I can. No, ~ it s, ~ I will, ~ no doubt about it, ~ I will raise my people up at the last day. And we will live forever in our resurrection bodies, ~ which will be free of sin, ~ corruption, ~ disease, ~ and everything bad. As Paul will tells us later in Phil. 3, ~ Jesus will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own. (cf. NLT) I.e., ~ like his own glorious resurrection body. INDEED, ~ VERY, ~ VERY POSITIVE RESULTS COME FROM KNOWING JESUS AS SAVIOR and Lord. CONCLUSION. AND WITH THAT WE FINISH OUR LOOK AT THIS THEOLOGICALLY RICH PARAGRAPH. As we have been stressing throughout this paragraph, ~ a person receives eternal life by God s grace alone ~ through faith alone ~ in Christ Jesus alone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) LETS PRAY.... 7/7